deer beds

[44charlie]

which way do lone deer face when bedded.

do they put brush/cover at their back, upwind or down?

plan on stalking some weed fields that have scattered bushes. should i move cross wind or upwind?

[jacobsladder]

i think cover is the key... whether it be a thicket, corn, or just brush at their back.. i know they like to use the south side of hills when it is cold..... the one lone buck that i stalked laying in the corn was laying with the wind in his face...i got within 7 yards and drew back stuck my upper body thru the last corn row and he just looked at me... that is when i found out how difficult it is to get an arrow in to the vitals of a bedded buck.. All I could see was his back hip cover his vitals from my angle..so i raised just a tad to try and hit vitals and skimmed it off the top of his back..he got up and practically tore the corn down getting out of there... tough shot at that angle..even at 7 yds...

[ishiwannabe]

I have seen em bed all ways. Usually, atleast in my experience, the tend to bed with the wind at their backs. Of course anything can change that...
The land I hunt most is buck only(landowner preference) and I cannot count how many times I have had doe(s) bed in front of me. Solitary usually always put the wind to their back(use their nose to check behind em and scan everywhere else), while groups bed facing out in an almost circle. Of course...I have never let bucks bed down..  :D  ..so Im not sure about them. Hope it helps....just my two cents.

[BamBooBender]

They seem to bed down facing whatever direction I choose to come from.